Plus-size supermodel and body positive activist Tess Holliday will not let her critics silence her—and intends to keep growing her career and spreading her message while being ‘fat as f**k’.
The 32-year-old mother sat down for an interview before a book signing and meet-and-greet with a few of her thousands of fans in New York City’s Tribeca neighborhood on Tuesday.
With women lining up as early as an hour ahead to meet Tess, the model opened up about working to shift how the fashion industry—and the public—view plus-size bodies, and how she intends to take the high fashion world by storm.
Talk: Plus-size supermodel Tess Holliday (pictured on Wednesday) sat down with Femail before a book signing and meet-and-greet with a few of her thousands of fans
Message: The 32-year-old mother, pictured with her husband Nick Holliday, opened up about working to shift how the fashion industry—and the public—view plus-size bodies
Born Ryann Maegen Hoven in Laurel, Mississippi, Tess grew up experiencing bullying and abuse, as she recounts in her newly published memoir, The Not So Subtle Art Of Being A Fat Girl, which hit the shelves earlier this month.
When Tess was just nine years old, her mother Beth Hoven, who worked for JC Penney, became disabled after being shot in the head twice by her ex-boyfriend, as the model writes in her book.
Throughout her childhood, she said, her father, Doug Hoven, who worked for Auto Zone, cheated on her mother, and was physically violent with his wife as well as with Tess and her brother Tad.
Eventually, Tess cut ties with her father when she was 27 years old, and her mom is now living with her.
Surviving this tough childhood has built up Tess’ resilience, which helps her nowadays whenever she faces backlash.
Life: Born Ryann Maegen Hoven in Laurel, Mississippi, Tess (pictured left in an archive photo and right last month) grew up experiencing bullying and abuse, as she recounts in her memoir
Past: Tess (pictured in an archive shot) saw her mother become disabled after being shot in the head twice by her ex-boyfriend, as the model writes in her book
Mother: The model gave birth to her first son, Rilee, when she was 20 years old. She is pictured during her pregnancy, with a prison in the background
Parent: Tess (pictured shortly after the birth of her first child) is now raising her sons to be feminists and to have a healthy approach to food and body image
History: Tess cut ties with her father, Doug Hoven (pictured right next to Tess’ mother, Beth Hoven, in an archive picture) when she was 27 years old, and her mom is now living with her
‘Things are not always going to be easy. Things are always going to be tough. But life is just life and you have to just push through it,’ she told Femail.
‘My mom has been through some of the worst things and unfortunately, because of her life being difficult, my life in turn has been quite difficult. And I don’t blame her for any of that because you do the best with what you can in those situations.
‘But I feel incredibly grateful to have had someone like her and seen everything that she’s gone through and realized that there’s always a way out, and you have to be positive even when it’s tough.’
In her memoir, Tess also opens up about being sexually assaulted—a passage that she says has particularly resonated with her readers.
‘That has helped a lot of people feel less alone, and talking about my father and things that I’ve been through,’ she said. ‘I think it’s shown people that my journey wasn’t overnight.’
At age 20, Tess had her first son, Rilee, who is now 11 years old. Fifteen months ago, she welcomed her second child, a boy named Bowie, with her now-husband Nick Holliday, an artist from Melbourne, Australia, whom she met online.
Like many parents, Tess is careful about how she discusses food and body image in front of Rilee. Bowie, she said, is too busy acting like a typical toddler and eating ‘literally’ anything (including items that are not edible) to concern himself with the topic too much.
Model: In the future, Tess plans on taking the high fashion world by storm and to make her New York Fashion Week debut
Congratulations! In July this year, Tess shocked her followers by revealing she and Nick (pictured at their wedding), who first met on Tumblr, have secretly been married for two years
Sartorial: Nick donned a jumpsuit with fringe while Tess rocked a turquoise dress and Stars And Stripes boots on the day of the nuptials
Good times: The pair obviously had fun tying the knot and plan on having a bigger ceremony with all their friends and relatives in the future
Brothers: Both of them are now raising Rylee (right), the first child Tess gave birth to, as well as Bowie, their 15-month-old son
‘I’m raising my sons to be feminists and to have a healthy body image and a healthy image with food in general,’ Tess said. ‘With our 11-year-old, I have to have conversations and say, “Look, you can eat a cheeseburger, just don’t eat 10 of them in a day. Eat the first one and see how you go.”
‘I tell him, “You don’t need to worry about what you eat, you need to let us worry about it. And you’re a kid. I never talk about myself in a shameful way and I don’t let him do it about himself. That’s just what I’ve taught them to do.’
As she raises two boys, Tess has become aware of the fact that men sometimes end up on the sidelines of various body positive movements.
‘[These movements] are catered to women, but what they don’t understand is that it’s a global issue that everyone deals with,’ she said. ‘Its just men haven’t been given a space to talk about it, because it’s not OK for men to be seen as fragile and sensitive and vulnerable. They’re supposed to be these top macho guys, but that’s a blanket term that should not exist. There needs to be more guys talking about it.’
Her husband has also become an advocate for body positivity and mental health awareness online, and agrees that men too can be concerned about their own bodies and shape.
‘I think a lot of my personal body issues came from the way my mother felt about her body, and hearing the way that she talked about her influenced the way I felt about myself,’ Nick said. ‘I was the only person in my family who was ever kind of overweight. I think a lot of the same feelings women have, men have too, it’s just that we’re not allowed to be vulnerable, we’re not allowed to talk about them.’
Milestone: Tess walked in London Fashion Week for the brand SimplyBe last week (pictured), and intends to keep going in that direction
Talents: ‘I’m not the most graceful person on the runway but I feel like my confidence shines through and I have a pretty good runway face,’ Tess (pictured at London Fashion Week) said
Looking forward to it: While several designers opted to feature models of various sizes during New York Fashion Week, Tess (pictured in London) didn’t walk in any show this time around
Nick, too, has been especially careful to teach his sons how to handle their emotions and to teach them about vulnerability.
‘I think it’s really important, particularly, with my sons, to show them that its OKto be vulnerable, to show them that it’s OK to have problems and be open about those problems and talk about those things,’ he added.
‘It’s really hard for me. I’m naturally a shy person and I don’t like putting myself out there and I have to let my wife set the example. Sometimes putting herself out there is uncomfortable, but it’s something you have to do. And I think I’ve started feeling better myself because of it as well.’
In July this year, Tess shocked her followers by revealing she and Nick, who first met on Tumblr, have secretly been married for two years.
‘We just wanted to have something that was ours. We share so much of our lives on social media. We just wanted it to be us,’ Tess said.
My next goal is to do high-end fashion. I’m going to be the first fat person to do it other than Beth Ditto
The pair, who tied the knot in a small, intimate ceremony, now plan to have a bigger bash to include all of their relatives and friends.
In the future, Tess also plans on taking the high fashion world by storm and to make her New York Fashion Week debut.
While several designers opted to feature models of various sizes on their runways earlier this month, Tess didn’t walk in any show this time around.
‘I think most of the reasons designers haven’t approached me is that they’re not making those sizes,’ she said. ‘The designers that are showing [plus] sizes on the runway, that’s the biggest size they go up to. So there’s no one that’s making a size 22. I’m sure if they were, they would call me.’
Tess did however walk in London Fashion Week for the brand SimplyBe last week, and intends to keep going in that direction.
‘Look, my next goal is to do high-end fashion. I’m going to be the first fat person to do it other than Beth Ditto,’ she said.
‘I’m not the most graceful person on the runway but I feel like my confidence shines through and I have a pretty good runway face. I’m still working on the walk, but we’ll get there.’
Book: Tess has been hard at work to promote her newly published memoir, The Not So Subtle Art Of Being A Fat Girl, which hit the shelves earlier this month
Duo: Nick (pictured with her at the top of the Empire State Building) has been traveling with his wife and enjoys watching her work and meet her fans, with whom he loves to interact
Among the designers who did include models of various sizes on their runways at New York Fashion Weeks, Tess tilted her hat to Christian Siriano, one of her personal friends, and the fashion label Chromat.
Still, she insisted that work remains to be done so that people of all sizes and backgrounds can be represented in the fashion world.
‘I think that its important to have models of all sizes and races and genders on the runway,’ she said. ‘I do wish I were seeing bigger models. There are bigger models, but unfortunately we’re just not seeing that. We’ll get there, but right now it’s not happening.’
Tess’ determination to bring about change and to impact people’s lives is what attracted Nick to her in the first place, before he even thought they would end up as life partners.
‘The fact that she does impact other peoples’ lives, I think that’s a very powerful thing. And obviously it’s something I love in her as a partner as well,’ he said. ‘I have nothing but pride for her. I love watching her work, meet her fans, and meeting them myself is very lovely.’
Story: In the book, Tess opens up about her past and how it has bolstered her confidence
To those who might be struggling with their own body image, Tess wants to say ‘ that they’re not alone, and everyone goes through what they’re dealing with; that it gets better.’
While Tess spreads her message with unflinching determination, she does think it would be nice if she got to talk about her accomplishments more than her size or health.
‘The reality is, people that are questioning my health don’t care if I’m healthy or not. They want to be a******s and they want to project their own insecurities onto me,’ she said. ‘And at the end of the day it’s my body, it’s my choice and I’m going to do what I want to do.’
Part of the work that remains to be done, for Nick, is to change the way people talk about bodies, including teaching children not to use words such as ‘fat’ as an insult.
‘I think particularly when it comes to kids we have to adjust on a societal level the language that we use,’ he said. ‘That’s fundamental to change how kids interact with each other and how they grow into adults who carry body positivity through them and spread it to other people.’
Tess, meanwhile, wants others to realize ‘we’re trying to survive in this world the best that we can’.
‘I think we should not judge other people on how they get through life and what they do, especially in the social climate we’re in now. Things are tough,’ she added. ‘We just need to be a little kind to each other.’
As for herself, she is determined to keep building her career, no matter what others might say.
‘I’m not going anywhere,’ she said. ‘And I’m probably still going to be fat as f**k doing everything I’m doing, and I don’t really care if it bothers people.’